Bad beat, bad decision, or bad luck?

I was playing a SNG last night. When it got down to three players, I was sort of in the middle when it comes to chips. The chip leader had over 5K, I had about 1.5K, and the third person had a little over 1K. Whenever the chipleader was in the small blind, he would raise me (as the big blind) all-in pre-flop. Generally, I had been getting bad cards, so I folded. The chip leader would turn his cards up, and about half the time he was bluffing. I played a bunch of hands when I had the cards and I wasn't getting raised all-in.

Finally, the situation arises where I'm raised all-in by the chip leader, pre-flop. This time, my cards were KQs. I decide to call, KQs is a group two hand so I should have some strength (pre-flop.) The other player folds. The chipleader turns over 44. The board doesn't give anyone a card to use, so he wins with a pair of 4s. Did I make the wrong decision to (finally) call with KQs?

Just wondering.

I am not sure what the blinds were at this point, but I will assume they are high enough given your stack size to find two cards you like and go with them. KQs is a solid hand with three people left. Given the choice of surrendering my big blind or going all-in, I would go all-in every time in this situation.

I knew I would forget something....

Blinds were 50 and 100.

i actually might've waited a little bit in this case. blinds really aren't very big, and KQ is behind against any ace + any pocket. i'd wait a little bit, and call it with an ace, try to get that short stack out. don't really think there's any way you're getting first here, so just wait on second.

with the blinds being as low as they were you didn't need to push, But It is not a terrible call.

In that situation I would try to pick on the small stack and just stay out of the way of the big one unless I had a Big hand.



peace
wwonka

wwonka, please check your pms and change your avatar.

-'rilla

I dunno, I like the call here. If the guy has been bluffing every now and then, why not push with a solid hand like this?

Best case scenario, and probably most likely, you're ahead with two over cards to his two undercards. That's not the way it worked out, but it was still a race to see if your overcards would beat his small PP (you were probably a small favorite here with overcards and flush/straight possibilities).

Others may not agree with me, but I like the call.

I probably would have waited. I'm not a big fan of KQ especially in this situation because if anything he is probably pushing you with Ax in which case your still an underdog. The blinds were low enough that you could have waited for something better or at least till the shorter stack went out.

Even if I got blinded out I would feel better knowing I gave myself a chance to get a good set of cards. Heres an example of how stubborn I can be.

PokerStars Game #1320084475: Tournament #5899475, Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2005/03/07 - 18:21:39 (ET)
Table '5899475 2' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: Jcabball3 (2050 in chips)
Seat 3: Shady125 (385 in chips)
Seat 5: AroundS1 (6515 in chips)
Seat 6: Ximenes (1875 in chips)
Seat 7: TLChipman (6095 in chips)
Seat 8: nexus76 (10080 in chips)
Jcabball3: posts the ante 25
Shady125: posts the ante 25
AroundS1: posts the ante 25
Ximenes: posts the ante 25
TLChipman: posts the ante 25
nexus76: posts the ante 25
Jcabball3: posts small blind 200
Shady125: posts big blind 360 and is all-in
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Shady125 [3s Ac]
AroundS1: folds
Ximenes: folds
TLChipman: calls 400
nexus76: folds
Jcabball3: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ad As Jh]
*** TURN *** [Ad As Jh] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [Ad As Jh Jc] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Shady125: shows [3s Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
TLChipman: shows [6c 5c] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Shady125 collected 1070 from pot

Now granted this is a miracle, but A3 would actually be something I would call him back on. Meanwhile if I had went in earlier on something I wasn't comfortable with just for the sake of it I would have never got this hand, nor got chips, nor go on to win the tournament

First the big stack was playing smart. Second you should have pushed on the small stack's Big Blind every time you were the small blind. Third KQ is good enough against big stack's range of pushing hands. You could be dominating him. Fourth squandering blinds this big is a leak. So you made the right decision.

I think that was a valid call, if you would have won you would have 3K and the chip leader will have 3.5K, giving you a decent chance to win it all.
Since he was raising you all in pretty much regardless of his cards

i would have called in your spot. You will have him beat more times than not, so go for it. You cant just leak away blinds and expect to win. You played it right IMO

I can see either a call or fold. If you're trying to move up a spot, you might fold. KQs is obviously a better hand to raise all-in then call all-in. But you're already ITM, so taking a shot w/KQs against someone who is raising you AI everytime is not such a bad play. I lean towards folding being 2nd stack w/those blinds.

Originally Posted by Greedo017

don't really think there's any way you're getting first here, so just wait on second.

Not true - I've comeback to win many times with that situation. Obviously you'd rather be the big stack, but it's not that dire especially since the blinds aren't too high yet.